1am on Sunday morning is not a good time to be wandering the streets of Dead End.  Your reporter witnesses the aftermath of 2 separate but equally mindless attacks.

Firstly, I spotted an ambulance attending an injured man.  As I moved closer, I was shocked to see fellow daily News staffer Vance Clayton bleeding heavily and about to be lifted onto a stretcher.  It appears that Vance was minding his  own business when he was attacked viciously by a woman with red dreadlocked hair.  The attack was violent and resulted in both stab wounds and bruising; the assailant ran off leaving Vance to bleed.

Marty Cai loads the injured reporter Vance Clayton to the Ambulance

Martin “Marty” Cai, EMT-P, responded quickly to a 911 call and arrived just as Vance was stumbling to his feet.  As the ambulance pulled to a halt, the Paramedics noticed the bloodied victim using the hood of the vehicle to keep himself upright.  Marty noticed several lacerations caused by a knife and helped Vance sit down.   Vance’s shirt was removed, and one by one the bleeding on each wound was stopped and bandaged until all wounds had been treated.  Marty administered fluids, antibiotics and painkillers before carefully loading Vance onto a stretcher and taking him to DEMH, where he remains for evaluation.

The motive for the attack was unclear, although Vance does recall the perpetrator stating that she was acting “Only to cause pain”.  The assailant is still at large.

In an almost simultaneous attack, Jamie Huntress entered the Icky Quicky Mart to buy the ingredients for a fruit cake, fruit and skittles apparently.  As she was leaving, she dropped an apple and was shocked to see it become covered in blood.  Concerned that her friend the apple was bleeding, and unaware of the presence of the storekeeper, Jamie called 911.  Despite jamie’s ‘fragile’ state, it seemed she saved the day for the Mart’s latest recruit as allegedly, the innocent shopgirl had been attacked by a tall woman in a mask who, after viciously beating her unconscious, grabbed cash from the register then made her escape by kicking down a door at the rear of the store, leaving it in a shambolic state. Logan Seljan of DEFD responded to this event and made sure the victim of this attack was also taken to DEMH for evaluation.

Apparently, DEPD are studying the Mart’s security footage in an attempt to identify the perpetrator of this vicious crime.  We know times are hard in Dead End, very hard, but surely this attack at the Mart is a sign of a dangerous escalation in the lengths to which the desperate and unemployed  will go to to make a small gain?

Annabel Westminster, DE Daily Reporter